


magnitude and a definite direction

by Kt_fairy



Category: The Terror (TV 2018), The Terror - Dan Simmons
Genre: Anal Sex, First Time, Hook-Up, M/M, PWP without Porn, Period Typical Attitudes, Pre-Canon, gratuitous discussion of trigonometry, t'was a dark and not that stormy night
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-21
Updated: 2020-02-21
Packaged: 2021-02-27 20:22:12
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,052
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22831717
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kt_fairy/pseuds/Kt_fairy
Summary: There was barely an inch between James’ willowy height and the corporal's strapping figure, so when he took a step forward James was compelled to move back so his shoulders met the curving hull of the jolly boat with a soft thump.
Relationships: Commander James Fitzjames/Sgt Solomon Tozer
Comments: 12
Kudos: 33





	magnitude and a definite direction

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Gwerfel](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Gwerfel/gifts).



> The kind, supportive, and ever generous MsKingBean, who has done two brilliant fic's in this pairing, talked me in to this (it wasn't very hard), and I present this humble offering to her Jammiest of Jam-ness.

_Eight bells last dog watch_

Portsmouth was just audible on the cold breeze; the murmur of humanity and the whirr of music from the inns and taverns along The Hard that lit the swaying waters of the harbour and the shadows of the blunt prison hulks looming in the night.

The longer James spent looking at the distant dark forms of those mastless and mutilated ships, the greater a creeping sense of unease grew in him until he rocked back on his heels and turned away. He went back along the gunwale the way he had come, not minding the nip in the air as he walked, placing his feet carefully heel first to make a satisfying _ta-thunk ta-thunk_ sound on the deck with his brand new officers boots.

_Excellent_ was still and empty, the majority of her gunnery students ashore tonight thanks to the generosity of Captain Hastings. James had elected to stay aboard, pleading a need to concentrate on Euclidean planes as he would rather not have to put himself through it with a doxy tonight. He would not be able to demur in front of his friends, after almost a month spent on this ship out in Portsmouth harbour it would be expected from young officer such as he who larked about in the wardroom and was rarely seen at his books. The sort who would believably need to apply himself to the principles that James found to be a perfectly simple if one looked at it the right way - but that just ‘ain’t the thing’ to admit to.

The loud huff of breath James let out was swallowed up by the expanse of the harbour, the inky waters stretching away past where _Excellent_ was moored and in to the starless night. James could not see the the distant sandbanks where the targets for gunnery training would be set up, but he had found them on both paper and in practise enough times that he knew their nor’eastern bearing and distance by heart.

He muttered those readings to himself and made up heights and wind velocities to work out trajectories he mostly knew already, giving him something to do in his solitude. Not that James found being alone a trial; he was not one of those sorts who wilted without company, but the situation was rather given to him dwelling on the unspeakable difference between the _company_ he would have and those comrades of his who were at this moment revelling with women.

A step sounded out of time with his own, too heavy and even to be a crewman, as yellow light flowed over the deck from behind one of the jolly boats. James had allowed himself to think he was alone, and he was startled by the lamp which was quickly lowered when its bearer spotted him.

It was Corporal Tozer of the marines, the red of his uniform dulled by the darkness even though the polished white leather of his crossband almost shone in the lamplight. He did not look surprised to have come across James, most likely because he had been able to hear his pacing and muttering to himself, the thought of which made James’ face heat from more than just bookish embarrassment. 

He had not failed to notice (and then upon noticing had immediately tried to push it aside) that the corporal was an attractive, well made fellow. It was in the manly sense, not pretty in the way that often garnered unwanted attention, even if his soft eyes could almost have been described as doe-like if not for the blunt, broad handsomeness of the rest of him.

"My apologies, corporal. I wasn't paying the slightest bit of attention to where I was going."

"No trouble, sir," corporal Tozer said, his correct posture straightening further. "It is your deck also."

James had not been a lieutenant very long, not even a year in fact, and he had not quite managed to get the hang of talking to the ranks like a commissioned officer (three years punting about on the Euphrates as a mate had done little to engender that fierceness either). He did not have the watch tonight and the corporal seemed to have just come from his duty, and they were on what amounted to a floating school, so James felt little harm in some momentary familiarity.

"Yes, well. Unchained myself from the slate for a stroll on deck, make the most of the peace and quiet, eh?" James turned his face up to where the masts on _Excellent_ should be, at the blank of low lying cloud where the stars should be, then back to the faint golden light pooling about them and found the marine giving him a strange look. “Oh come now,” James said lightly, “despite appearances us young bloods do engage in study occasionally.”

“I know that to be true, sir, of course,” the lamp swayed, the light about them shifting as Tozer frowned at something. 

He was not one of those men who struggled to say one a word to an officer; from what James had seen of the corporal he seemed able to gauge who might tolerate some talk from the crew and who would not, and for all his popularity in the wardroom James was not sure which one he might be when it came to the men.

"If I might be bold," Tozer said with noticeable boldness. "From what we see of your gunnery when on sentry, sir, I would not think you should need to apply yourself much more.”

James settled on his back foot, brow raised at the clumsy compliment. “You do not?”

“I have spoken out of turn sir, my apologies.”

“Not at all my good fellow,” James said, waving the apology away. “You must be as proficient as us all, having to stand about on sentry and listen to the lessons and watch us litter the harbour with shot.”

“You yourself are plenty proficient from what I gather, sir," Tozer said with intentional nonchalance as he cocked his head, shifting his weight so he was angled towards James.

“Yes. Well," James took a deep breath, glancing over Tozer. "Things are usually not as complicated as people like to make them seem. If you can break it down to simple principles, or a visualisation in three dimensions, then it is far easier to understand the concept, I find. Rather than trying to keep an abacus in your head and all that.”

Tozer nodded, broad shoulders shifting as he spoke carefully as if parsing through his words before using them. “It is all triangles isn’t it, sir? Holding set squares in your mind and such.”

“I would say so, yes,” James said evenly, impressed that this man had such a grasp on it all. “Trigonometry is finding the point between distance and elevation, which is a triangle.”

“My brother is a carpenter you see," the marine explained, posture loosening slightly as he spoke. "I helped him when I was younger, and I know that you must hold the image of the whole thing in your head to know how to cut the wood and the like. I supposed this, the ranging of distances, is of a similar… tune.”

“Well, Corporal it seems you are wasted in red,” James shot the man a smile. “We should have you in the boat sheds crafting our fine vessels.”

“Ah, it’s not the life fer me, sir," Tozer shrugged, giving James a charming half smile in return.

“Quite, quite,” James muttered. He would have dismissed him then, as he doubted that speaking with an officer was the man’s idea of a pleasant evening, but Tozer patted down his pocket for his tobacco pouch and seemed content to stand here and smoke. 

James looked aft towards the quarterdeck, where he could just see the men and officer of the watch (Maitland, probably) in the glow of the brazier, and knew that down on the deck he and the marine must be perfectly visible in the glow of the lamp.

As he wondered what he should say or do next, the light falling on him shifted. Tozer had raised the lamp and opened the door to use the naked flame, and when James glanced over he found that he was being watched through the brightness. It cast shadows over the corporal’s face as he inhaled deeply, lighting all the flecks of gold in his hair and in his eyes that were trailing over James with daring interest. 

This was not the first time that James had found himself being regarded in such a way (things of little substance were easy to desire) and certainly not by this man. James had only caught him watching because he had been keeping a carefully disinterested eye on the corporal in return; he had put it down to the marines watchfulness, or that he had been larking at the time. Or, when James had straightened from checking the elevation through the gunport and found eyes on his person, simple curiosity.

He was still unsure, he could not afford to _be_ sure about any of this, but as Tozer lowered the lamp, causing all the brass buttons and badges on his coat to glimmer and glint as the light ran over them, James felt a familiar and unexpected thrill.

"You not ashore tonight, sir?" 

"No, no... Carousing is not my wont, really. Well, not the kind you get on The Hard anyway,” he admitted, and then. “Not really my sport.”

Tozer exhaled a great cloud of smoke and said in an undertone. “Only I 'eard tell you were a while in the Ottoman lands, sir.”

“Indeed I was.”

“A man might be in need of some…" he cocked his head, eyes _still_ on James who was beginning to feel rather hot, " _carousing_ after that."

James cleared his throat, feeling his ears heat at how very _clear_ this marine was starting to make his intent.

"Must be fair strange to be surrounded by Mohammedans and their practices for so long,” Tozer said lightly, tobacco flaring red as he took a deep drag.

"I rather think we were the peculiar ones, being outnumbered as we were."

"Sir." Tozer nodded, seeming to ponder that a moment before shifting on his feet. "Well, if a man's sport is not to be found on The Hard, that is his own business."

They stood looking at one another, James aware that the direction of the evening depended very much on what he did next. He had not really been thinking about intimate company previous to this meeting, it was best not to when land was so close, nor did he believe an officer should look for such a thing from a rank that could not deny him. But this marine seemed very keen, had all but propositioned James with his looks and words, and James was lacking in enough opportunities for intimacy to allow this slip in sense.

"Indeed, a man's sense of fun is his own business."

Corporal Tozer's moustache twitched with a smile. "Plenty of fun can be ‘ad below decks, sir."

James barked out a laugh at the flippancy of the comment, catching the faintly pleased look of surprise on Tozer’s face before he glanced furtively back towards the figures up on the quarterdeck.

“As you have such a curiosity in mathematics,” James said just loudly enough to be conversational. "I might show you a book or two?"

"Wouldn't want to put you out any, sir."

"Of course," James said as he lead the way to the forward hatch, making a point of waving up to Maitland as Tozer blew out his lamp, plunging them into the thick night.

They waited a moment in silence, eyes adjusting to the sudden darkness as they listened to the shuffle of movement and snores echoing about the ship that creaked with the gentle lap of the waters against her hull.

Tozer was the first to turn, not quite fleet enough of foot to move silently but was quiet enough as he led James down the pitch dark starboard side of the deck. He reached behind himself to catch James' cuff, pulling him along and into the awkward space between the jolly boats and the squat cabin on deck that acted as a classroom.

"Sorry for the liberty, sir," Tozer said in a low voice once they were facing one another, the red of his coat still visible in the gloom.

“Not at all," James said. His eyes widened when Tozer ducked down, and he held in a sigh when it turned out the marine was only placing the darkened lamp on the deck. “And - please do not call me sir in this moment.”

“As you please,” Tozer agreed easily. 

There was barely an inch between James’ willowy height and the corporal's strapping figure, so when he took a step forward James was compelled to move back so his shoulders met the curving hull of the jolly boat with a soft thump.

James was not expecting romance, and the way Tozer tugged open the buttons on his trousers was predictably businesslike. He still had to swallow down a gasp when a calloused, unexpectedly gentle hand was shoved into his linens to grasp his barely hard prick. James tried to breathe steadily as he was pulled to hardness, feeling a spark of excitement go through him when Tozer placed his hand on the planking by James’ head to brace himself, caging James in with careless ease, the boat groaning ever so slightly when it took their combined weight.

James swallowed hard, hand going to grasp the crossband at the corporal’s broad chest before thinking better of it, not wishing to smear the pipe-clay used to whiten the leather. Instead he curled his hand over Tozer’s arm, just above his corporal’s stripe, and sighed when he felt brawny muscle and sinew moving beneath the thick wool of the marines’ jacket.

He blindly reached out between them, fingers bumping Tozer’s thigh before he managed to find the half hard shape of the marines’ cock beneath the rough wool of his trousers. The fumbled touch pulled a sharp breath from the Tozer, and James searched for the buttons of his fly, only getting one set undone before the hand on his own prick stutter to a halt.

James listened for the sound of someone approaching, for any sign of movement about them, then noticed the frown on that handsome brow.

"What is it?" he asked.

"What're you doin'?"

James wet his bottom lip, not failing to notice how it drew the other man's gaze. "Would you prefer that I do not touch you?"

Not all men, James sometimes included, wanted reciprocation; either because seeing to themselves later on set a man apart from the act, or they had not truly wished to engage in it in the first place.

"Do not think that I am ordering you to do this," James hissed, feeling shame begin to crawl up the back of his neck as his cock flagged.

"I know," was snapped back at him, the buttons on Tozer’s sleeve scraping against James’ belly as he half withdrew his hand. “You’re an officer. I didn't expect to be… for you to frig me in return."

“I do not simply wish to be brought relief, I am capable of doing that myself,” James said sharply.

The edge of a plank was digging into James’ shoulder blade, and he could feel rough fingertips brushing against his embarrassingly limp prick. He would have called this all off, put it down to a momentary lapse in judgement on both their parts and lived with this burn of mortification, if Tozer had not moved his hand to touch James' stomach gently through his shirt, tipping his head back to look at James properly, his brows raising in surprise or curiosity or both, James could not tell. 

“Very well,” Tozer said in a low, steady voice, moving even closer to James so one shapely thigh pressed almost between his own. “How’d you want it, then?”

James knew this game, and flexed his hand against Tozer’s arm as he tilted his hips just so, letting him know what was tentatively on offer. It was a lot of trust to put in the hands of a man who James had only spoken to in passing before this moment; he might tell every marine on his ship what lieutenant Fitzjames would let a man do to him, might ruin his barely salvaged career with whispers alone. 

But it had been such a while. 

Tozer had been the one to drag James back here as if he knew the spot well, as if he had done this before, and from what James could see of his face and feel of his prick he was very earnest in his interest, not a hint of disgust in his soft eyes. 

Corporal Tozer removed his hand from James’ trousers and grasped his hips. James expected to be turned about, but instead found himself being gently kissed. The mans’ soft, well cared for whiskers tickled James’ top lip and cheeks, and he slipped his arm around square shoulders as he kissed back, enjoying the feel of Tozer's broad hand tripping up his side to press against his waist. 

“You knew I was lookin' every time," Tozer murmured, low and rumbling, against James' jaw. "Didn’t yer?”

James felt like a slattern to admit it, but he nodded all the same, twisting his arm between the two of them to finally get the man’s damned trousers open, grasping his cock which was just as well made as the rest of him. 

They should go below for this, James thought when they ran out of kisses and he turned, undoing his braces at the back so his trousers might be pulled down as far as they were needed. Frigging another man on deck was one thing, buggering was another, even if James was sure they were not the only ones who had ever taken advantage of such a thick, overcast night as this. 

He glanced over his shoulder when he heard the quiet click of the lantern being opened, frowning at the hunched form before he realised Tozer was sticking his fingers into the reservoir of whale oil. James turned back around as he slipped off his coat so the tails would not be in the way, feeling the cool night air prickle at the heat of his skin through his linen shirtsleeves.

The frames that held the jolly boats were sturdy enough to not rattle or creak if force was applied to them, and James braced himself there. He felt the weight of touch on the soft cotton of his waistcoat, fingers tracing the laces at the back which pulled it neatly about his waist. It was perfunctory, more a curiosity than a caress, and his trousers and linens were soon pulled down, his shirt pushed up to bare his backside. 

The chill in the night air almost caused him to shudder, but the body heat of another man was soon pressing close, and James took one deep breath and then another to relax himself as two fingers pushed into him. The last time he had engaged in this was far enough in the past that it stung, but James had never minded that if the occasion called for it, and at least the still warm lamp oil was far more viscous and lasting than spit.

James reached between his legs to stroke his cock, setting his feet further apart when the fingers were removed and legs knocked against the back of his own, the cold buttons of a cuff brushing against his skin when his backside was grasped roughly. The wet head of Tozer’s cock slipped against him on the first attempt to enter him, and then he was pushing in, the unforgiving stretch of the marine’s substantial prick making James’ toes curl in his boots. 

All James could hear was Tozer's sharp, heavy breathing once he was fully seated inside of him, his hand coming to hold onto James’ hip as he began to bugger him with short, firm thrusts. James had to muffle himself on his sleeve, trying not to whimper like some back alley whore every time the blunt end of Tozer’s cock hit deep inside him. 

It was never going to be a long, languid thing; these sorts of coupling were always a chase towards pleasure. Yet Tozer slowed a pace when James felt on the brink, rolling his hips in an unhurried manner that made James think the man might be savouring this, might be allowing himself a moment or two to enjoy him, and James almost let out a cry that would have immediately brought the marines on watch to this place. 

Tozer bent over him, thighs pressing to the back of James’ own and chest bumping against his back as he rested his hand on James’ chest, just below his throat. “I don't want to gag you,” he panted against James’ ear as he rocked in deep, and James hand to bite at his loose sleeve to keep down a moan.

The hand still gripping his backside tightened as Tozer started to grunt into his shoulder, dull fingernails biting into his flesh. James began squeezing at the head of his own cock, trying to rock up onto his toes as pleasure took him but the weight of Tozer against his back held him down. 

James reached his release with a sigh, making a mess of his linens and hopefully not his trousers or boots, palming at his prick until every wave of pleasure had washed over him. He relaxed into the feeling as Tozer continued to take him, holding onto the boat frame with both hands when the man suddenly grasped James tightly and fucked into him about a dozen times before sagging, spent.

He rested his head against James’ shoulder, just breathing, fingertips stroking over the ends of his cravat. James was content to be held and to support the weight a little while, and missed the warmth when Tozer straightened. He did not pull away at once, palm smoothing over the place on James’ buttock that stung from the pressure of Tozer’s fingernails, then up under his shirt to touch his sweaty lower back, before easing out. 

James clenched hard now he was woefully empty, feeling a faint, body warm trickle run down his thighs as he reached up to grasp at the stern of the jolly boat to pull himself upright. He was wiping up as much mess as he could with his handkerchief when his trousers were hoisted back up, and he glanced over his shoulder to catch Tozer’s eye and smiled faintly.

The marine nodded back, stepping away to neaten his own uniform while James reattached his braces and pulled his coat back on as the sweat on his skin began to cool. 

Tozer made to pass his fingers through his hair, and James blushed as he realised where abouts in his person those digits had been. He reached out to stop him, and Tozer gave him a startled blink before whispering a cautious, "All well?"

“There's some uh - _oil_ still on your fingers,” James whispered, blushing darker when he released the cuff of the marine’s jacket. 

Tozer looked down at his hand, then gave James an awkward look. “Thank you.”

“No bother,” James shook his head. “I suppose I should show you some books, having said I would. I can bring you a basin also.”

“Sir…”

“No need to be sheepish. I will not wake tomorrow shamed by this, and we have a good few days left aboard this ship together, do we not?”

Tozer frowned as if only just realising this, then his brows raised slightly, his true expression hard to read in the darkness. “Thank you kindly, sir.”

“Good, good,” James pressed the cold backs of his hands to his cheeks to try and rid himself of any flush. “You can come and confirm that all this hard work we do is only triangles.”

The corporal stifled a laugh as he stepped back to allow James to leave their hiding place first. “After you, sir.”

**Author's Note:**

> I don't usually give sources of titles or my fics, but this one comes from the Wiki article about Euclidean Vectors. Which is trigonometry. I did RESEARCH for that awkward convo I'll have you know.


End file.
